Stranded, a Voltron: Legendary Defender One Shot
by AshTheDestroyer
Summary: Keith and Acxa crash land on a desolate planet and are forced to work together for survival.


"Be careful guys, we still don't know what this thing can do," Pidge shouted into her helmet's communication system. The other team members responded and proceeded to fly their lions closer to each other so they were in a tight circle formation.

Keith narrowed his dark eyes, "Hold your ground," He watched with laser-intense focus as Lotor's ship sped past Team Voltron, leaving a trail of stardust in its wake, "Fire!" The entire team let loose on the ship as it ducked and dodged every shot, "Quiznak! I'm going after it!"

"Keith, no!" Lance tried in vain to get Keith to stay. The Black Lion's pilot didn't listen as he chased after the Galran speedster.

Acxa gritted her teeth. These dang paladins wouldn't let up. She tried doing a 180 and rushed Keith as he flew at her head on in the Black Lion. She opened fire, particle blaster beams streaking by and narrowly missing the Black Lion.

"Nice try!" Keith surged forward and deployed his Lion's jaw blade. Sparks flew as the blade collided with the impenetrable exterior of the smaller craft.

Acxa took a chance and shot at the connecting joints of the neck of the Lion. The Black Lion deactivated, its lifeless form rapidly falling to the surface of the barren planet below, "Hah! Take that, Paladin!" The thrusters on Acxa's ship gave out and she started plummeting to the planet as well. "Stupid machine!"

Keith barely knew what was happening. One moment he was flying through space chasing the enemy Galran general, and the next he was falling through the sky of a mysterious planet inside a lifeless Black Lion. The interior of the lion had turned red, warning lights flashing, sirens blaring, "C'mon bud. We can do it," Keith grit his teeth and pulled on the thrusters. Nothing happened. The lion shook, throwing Keith about the cockpit.

"GAAAAA," Keith was thrown forward and into the dashboard, his head making sharp contact with its metallic surface. He saw the surface of the unknown planet rushing toward him as he blacked out.

"Seriously!?" Acxa tried everything in her power to keep her ship from crashing like Keith's. She pulled on the thrusters, tried hitting numerous buttons, and yelled in frustration. Nothing was working. The half-Galran general sighed as she hit the eject button, launching herself up into the air with a parachute. She took note of where the Black Lion's paladin had landed as she made her slow descent. Her craft smashed into the ground, seemingly unharmed with the exception of smoke erupting from the control panel. Once her feet touched the ground, Acxa ditched her ship and started running in the direction of the half-Galran paladin.

The terrain of the planet was rocky and barren. There were steep cliffs and deep canyons. Acxa used her jump pack to leap a gorge, and then continued in her hazardous journey. Suddenly her foot caught on something hard and she fell face first onto the rocky ground. She seethed as she looked at her scraped knee. Her armor had gotten disturbed from its place on her kneecap. The area was bruised and bloody. She got up on her feet and kept moving with a slight limp in her gait.

 _Why am I doing this? He's the enemy. I shouldn't care what happens to him_. Acxa questioned the moves her body was making as she grew closer to her destination. Blood dripped in slow oozes from her knee, leaving a brilliant red trail in her wake. She sighed when she saw the telltale bright blue wings of the Black Lion in the distance.

Keith awoke to the sounds of a crackling fire, smoke making his eyes sting, "Where am I?" He tried getting to his bayard only to realize it had been removed and his hands were tied behind his back. Then he saw her, "You! Where are we?"

Acxa flinched at his tone of voice, "I just saved your sorry butt. Show some gratitude," She turned up her nose in annoyance.

"What do you mean 'saved my sorry butt?'"

"Consider it payback," The general turned away from the paladin and continued making repairs on her armor.

"For what?!"

"For the time in the Giant Weblum!" Acxa spun around and grabbed Keith by the collar of his uniform, lifting him in the air, "Do you honestly not remember? You freed me from inside the Giant Weblum. You were bleeding out in your Lion, so I saved you and bandaged your head. Now we're even!" She dropped Keith to the floor. He laid there, stunned.

He noticed her still-bleeding knee. "Your knee. It's bleeding pretty bad."

Acxa laughed, "I only had enough bandages for your dumb head wound. I'll survive."

Keith huffed in frustration, "But that doesn't make sense. Why keep me alive? I'm your enemy."

The Galran general turned away and walked out of the cave they had been holed up in.

"Hey I'm talking to you!" Keith tried following her only to be yanked back. The bindings around his wrists had been securely fastened to a heavy rock in the cave.

Acxa wanted to scream. She wanted to kill that ingrate of a paladin. But he had saved her life once before. Besides, there was something about him she just couldn't shake. Something oddly familiar.

She hunted for hours trying to find anything that looked slightly edible. Her efforts were in vain, however, as it seemed the entire planet was nothing but a desolate rocky wasteland.

 _I could just eat him_ , Acxa laughed at the thought as she made her way back to the cave. Keith had fallen asleep against a rock. A small pile of drool had formed on the ground below his slouched form. Acxa took up a seat on the other side of the dying fire across from him, studying his features. Narrow face, dark eyes, dark mullet, tall, skinny. His composition was like that of a Galra, yet his physical attributes were human. He fought like a Galra but strategized like a man. The boy confused Acxa to no end.

She thought of her own parents. She had never known them, yet she knew she wasn't completely Galra. Her father had been an Arielian who had been sent into space by his people. Her mother was Galra and had betrayed the Empire to join The Blade of Marmora. Acxa had been declared an orphan when her father was found dead in a back alley of their home planet and her mother hadn't returned after a month of disappearance. She vaguely remembered the voice of her mother as she had cried and apologized. Acxa remembered soft, voluminous black hair cascading down from her mother's head onto her infant form.

The Galran general snapped to attention when the Paladin woke from his slumber. She restrained a laugh as he leaned forward, a line of drool connecting him and the rock behind him.

Keith had this groggy expression about him that made him look like a pathetic little puppy. "What time is it?"

Acxa shrugged and checked her ticker, which was, unfortunately, dead. She then looked outside to see if the sun that the planet revolved around would be any kind of indicator. To her dismay, a dense grey fog had obscured anything in the sky from view. "I don't know. There's no sun out and my ticker's dead."

"Galra have tickers too… That's funny," Keith chuckled.

"Why's that?" Acxa scrunched up her face defensively.

"I thought tickers were an Altean thing, but I guess not."

"Well I thought humans were an Earth thing, but I guess not," Acxa retorted.

"Sick burn."

"What?"

"It's an Earth thing."

"Oh," Acxa's eyes darted around the cave, trying their hardest not to make contact with the dark haired boy across from her. "What's Earth like?" She asked cautiously.

Keith thought for a moment. He studied the fissures in the cave ceiling, contemplating the best way to answer. "Well, it's mostly water. There's land, deserts, places covered in ice, forests, animals, cities, and people. It's where I grew up. It's home. It's safe. If anyone were to threaten that safety I wouldn't hesitate in killing them," he looked Acxa in the eyes, "and I do mean anyone."

"Earth sounds like a wonderful place." Acxa remembered her own war-torn planet. She had been raised on one of the planets still recovering from the terror of Emperor Zarkon. As a half-Galran girl, she had been ostracized by the other people of her town and left on her own. If it hadn't been for Prince Lotor, she wouldn't have survived. To Acxa, her planet didn't mean home or safety. It meant pain and sorrow. It reminded her that she was truly alone and that she had to look out for herself.

"Hey, you okay?"

Acxa hadn't realized that she was crying hot, salty tears. She quickly dried her eyes and regained her stiff composure. "Of course I'm okay."

A loud roar shook the cave. "My lion's calling me!" Keith yanked on his bindings in vain.

"Here," Acxa took a knife from her boot and sliced the ropes with ease.

The dark haired boy eyed her suspiciously.

"What? Your lion needs you," The General shrugged.

Keith wasted no time in darting from the cave into the grey miasma of the planet. Acxa followed close behind with his forgotten bayard firmly in her grasp. She gasped when she saw Keith draw a blade from his side, the unmistakable crest brandished in the sunlight. "The Blade of Marmora's crest?" Acxa was at a loss for words as Keith left her in the dust. It was impossible. There was no way that a human could wield a luxite blade from the same resistance order her traitorous mother had joined.

Realizing she had fallen behind, Acxa snapped back to reality and utilized her jump pack in catching up to Keith.

The roars of the paladin's lion grew louder as the pair converged on its location. They halted when they heard a snarl behind them.

"Acxa! Duck!" Keith threw his blade just as the Galran general threw herself to the ground. The dark haired paladin's blade dove into the flesh of a giant worm monster erupting from the earth behind the two. It shrieked and convulsed in agony, collapsing in a flurry of squishy insides and goo.

Acxa gave the heap of monster flesh a look of utter disdain, "Thanks." She nodded in the direction of Keith, who grunted a response. He was already moving toward his lion again.

The two ascended a steep hill. Upon reaching the peak, they could see the Black Lion viciously battling more worm monsters. These worms, however, were larger and had numerous rows of teeth set into their cylindrical maws. The Black Lion was trying its best to fight off the creatures, but smoke and sparks were coming from inside. It had been badly damaged.

"I'm coming, buddy!" Keith slid down the steep incline of the hill, blade extended. He ran one worm monster through. It convulsed and shrieked in agony as it turned on Keith and tried taking a snap at him. The paladin easily dodged and landed another clean blow on the monster, taking off its head. It slowly sank and another worm monster took its place.

This same process went on for several minutes. Keith would fight one monster, kill it, and another would take its place. It was like the Hydra of Greek mythology. Once a head was cut off, two more would take its place.

"This is getting nowhere." Acxa snorted and took her blaster from her holster. She aimed and fired three times, each hitting the same worm monster in a critical spot. It collapsed to the ground in a fit of convulsions. Acxa continued shooting at the worms as Keith battled them with blade.

"Take this!" Acxa threw Keith's stolen bayard toward the mullet boy, who caught it easily.

Keith nodded and started duel wielding both his Marmora blade and his paladin bayard.

Eventually the horde of worm monsters subsided, and the two half-Galras were able to rest. The Black Lion roared in victory, getting low and opening its mouth for Keith to step inside. The paladin approached his lion and walked up the ramp into its mouth.

"C'mon. What are you waiting for?" Keith motioned for Acxa to join him.

The half-Galra general was flustered. The paladins of Voltron were supposed to be the enemy, yet here one was offering to let her on his ship. Hesitantly, she nodded and walked up the ramp into the big cat's jaws. The Lion closed its mouth and the two made their way to the cockpit, where Keith sat down and took command.

"My lion's in pretty rough shape, but I think we can make it to your ship and get them both repaired. Then we can leave this forsaken planet." Keith hit some buttons on the keypad in front of him and pulled on the thrusters. The Lion roared in approval and ascended into the sky.

Acxa was still perplexed. She had kept Keith tied up in a cave for days after shooting him out of the sky. She was the enemy, yet he treated her like an ally. He carried a luxite blade from The Blade of Marmora, a rebellious faction of Galra outcasts, but he looked human. He made no sense to Acxa.

"Can I… help you?" Keith eyed Acxa.

She realized she had been staring. "I'm sorry. Just thinking."

"Hmm sure." The Black Lion made its descent on the spot Acxa's ship had crashed. The half-Galra general and the paladin lept from the lion's jaw and Acxa ran to her ship.

She stopped and looked over her shoulder at the dark haired boy. "I've never really been good at this, but… thanks."

"Yeah, don't mention it. Do you need help with your ship? I'm no mechanical wiz, but I might be able to figure something out."

"Hah. To be honest, I'm not either. If you wouldn't mind, any help would be appreciated"

Keith nodded and walked up to the ship with Acxa. It was dented on the left side, the windshield cracking in spiderweb fractures. Acxa jumped inside and tried starting the craft, but the left thruster was fried. She tried again only to get a weak sputtering noise.

"Well this sucks." Keith rounded the craft to assess the rest of the damage. There were some minor gashes and scrapes on the arms. He came to the left thruster. "I'm going to try something!" The paladin put his body weight into hitting the machine.

Acxa caught on and tried starting the craft again. The thrusters roared to life. "Nice one, Keith!"

The ship started making a sinister noise, "Oh no! Something's wrong!" Keith jumped back. The left thruster burst into flames.

The pair worked continuously on the craft, trying anything and everything to get it to operate correctly. Eventually they got it into a semi-operable state.

"That should get you into space. From there, you're on your own." Keith finished cleaning a grease stain off the wing.

"Thanks again," Acxa hopped into the cockpit of the ship, "It was great to get to know you. Too bad that when we get back up there we'll be forced to be enemies again."

Keith laughed, "Yeah, but let's not think about it like that. Let's be rivals. I like that better than enemies."

"I'd like that too."

Keith turned away and started heading back to his lion, "Until we meet again!" He waved over his shoulder.

Anxiety overtook the Galran female, "Keith, wait. Where did you get your blade?"

"I've always had it. It was my mother's. Why?"

"Oh no reason…"

The two parted ways into the galaxy. Acxa looked out on the infinite cosmos with a clear head, the vial containing Keith's saliva tucked securely into her armor. On any other given day, she would have gone straight back to Lotor's battleship, but not on this occasion. She set a course for another smaller planet, this one covered in green jungles and thriving with exotic animals.

Upon arriving on the planet, she hopped from the cockpit and ventured into the dense forest. _She'll know what to do._ Acxa thought as she sidestepped vines and lept over fallen tree trunks. She came upon a steep waterfall into a beautiful, crystal blue lagoon.

Using a piece of driftwood as a raft, the crafty half-Galran sailed her way across the lagoon to the waterfall. She made landfall behind it and headed into the cave that was obscured from prying eyes.

Clutching the vial close, she traveled into the deep cave. All natural light was lost and she had to feel the walls a bit to keep from hitting anything. Acxa rounded a corner and was confronted with the blinding light of a flaming torch secured to the wall. She took it from its position and carried it with her as a means to light her way.

A large cauldron came into view, and a cloaked figure was hunched over it. They were muttering something that sounded like gibberish to Acxa, occasionally throwing dried plants or other things into the pot.

"Hello?" Acxa stopped in the entrance to the den. The torch cast shadows over everything its light touched. "Are you the witch of this cavern?"

The shriveled hag cackled, "That depends on who's asking," She turned a bloodshot yellow eye to the younger girl. Dark red markings covered her face. She had sunken features and a long chin. Thin, bony fingers with long, jagged fingernails extended from the sleeves of her cloak.

Acxa kneeled, "I am a General of Prince Lotor, Acxa. I have come to make a request."

"Is it in the name of his Majesty?"

"I hardly see why that should matter." Acxa narrowed her eyes at the cloaked witch.

"An _off the books_ kind of visit, huh?" The witch smirked. "Don't want that pretty boy prince knowing what you're up to?"

Acxa huffed, "Will you hear my request or not?"

"Of course, my darling," the hag croaked, "with the proper motivation." She outstretched her hand searching for payment.

The Galran general pulled her blade from her side and aimed it at the witch's throat, "Don't test me."

"Fine. Fine. Fine!" The witch backed off and threw her hands in the air, "What is it you need?"

"I want you to see if this," Acxa pulled the vial of saliva from her pouch, "Is related at all to this," she revealed a cloth soaked in blood.

"Of course, dear. May I ask why?"

"You may not."

"Fair, fair." The witch got to work on the DNA samples. She mixed together herbs, gooey substances, and unknown dried objects. She stirred them together in a small stone bowl.

"Now then, if the two are related, the mixture will glow blue. If they are not, then the mixture will become toxic and will emit a poisonous purple haze. Are you sure you want me to continue?"

Acxa nodded. The witch first poured the vial of saliva into the mix. It crackled and fizzed as it mixed with the other congealing substances in the bowl. The mixture turned a mild green. She looked at Acxa for any signs of discomfort before slowly taking the bloody cloth and dropping it in the bowl with the saliva.

The bowl started vibrating and the mix started pulsing in different colors, each more vibrant than the last. Eventually it settled on a pure, iridescent blue.

"Is this the answer you seek my dear?"

Acxa's eyes widened at the question and she quickly darted from the cave. She returned to her ship and made a speedy ascent into space.

Tears fell down her face in shock and happiness. She felt joy knowing she was no longer alone in her tiny world of isolation.

The half-Galran girl swore to herself to keep her discovery a secret, for both her sake and the sake of her newfound half brother.


End file.
